Bulgarian president appoints caretaker gov't

SOFIA, March 12 (Xinhua) -- Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev on Tuesday appointed the country's caretaker government some two months before the early parliamentary elections expected to be held in May.

Plevneliev said in a statement that the caretaker government, led by Marin Raykov, Bulgarian current ambassador to France, would take office on Wednesday.

It will replace the GERB party cabinet that resigned in February amid national protests against high bills for electricity and heating, after the key political parties refused to form a government within this parliament.

Plevneliev also said that on Friday he would dissolve the National Assembly and schedule new elections for May 12.

Raykov, born on Dec. 17, 1960 in Washington, USA, has been a career diplomat. He reached the position of Deputy Foreign Minister twice -- from 1998 to 2001 and 2009 to 2010.

Preparation of fair elections and stability in the state institutions would be the main tasks of his government, Raykov said just after the statement.

The Government would also support the social orientation of the market economy in Bulgaria, creating conditions for economic growth and exit from the crisis, Raykov said.

Meanwhile, it would keep financial discipline and currency board in the country, he added.

The caretaker government will have three vice prime ministers -- Ekaterina Zaharieva who will also serve as Minister of Regional Development, Deyana Kostadinova who will also be Minister of Labor and Social Policy, and Iliyana Tzanova who will also be responsible for the European Union (EU) funds management.

Up to now, Zaharieva was a Secretary General of the President, Kostadinova was President's Secretary of Social Policies, Youth and Sports while Tzanova worked at European Bank for Reconstruction and Development's headquarters.

This will be the third Bulgarian caretaker government during the last 25 years. The first one, led by Reneta Indjova, served from October 1994 to January 1995, and the second one served from February 2007 to May 2007 under the leadership of Stefan Sofianski .